The present invention relates to a supporing plate for supporting a semiconductor wafer in some steps for fabricating a semiconductor device.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a supporting plate for supporing a semiconductor wafer and transporting the semiconductor wafer into, for example, the scribing station and the bonding station in the course of fabrication of the semiconductor device.
Generally, a semiconductor wafer having circuit elements and conductor wirings formed therein in a desired configuration is supported on a supporting plate via adhesive such as wax. The thus supported semiconductor wafer is transported into the scribing station, wherein the semiconductor wafer is divided into semiconductor chips through the use of a dicing saw. An electrode shaped metal leaf is placed to confront an electrode formed on the semiconductor chip in the bonding station, wherein the electrode shaped metal leaf is connected to the chip electrode through the use of a bonding tool.
Grooves formed in the scribing station reach the supporting plate. That is, the adhesive sandwiched between the semiconductor wafer and the supporting plate is also divided into the chip size.
The conventional supporting plate is made of glass, plastics or ceramics. The glass supporting plate has a high thermal conductivity and, therefore, the bonding tool must be heated to a considerably high temperature. Moreover, the heat energy is transferred to adjacent semiconductor chips through the glass supporting plate. The thus transferred heat energy melts the wax fixed to the adjacent semiconductor chips.
The plastic supporting plate can not tolerate a high temperature. Thus there is the possibility that the plastic supporting plate will bend during the bonding treatment.
The fine ceramic supporing plate has similar defects as the glass supporting plate. In the porous ceramic supporting plate, there is a possibility that the adhesive such as the wax permeates the inside of the porous ceramic supporting plate.